The eldest prince's target was never Jiang Chengyu, the sturdy Jiang family member, but Dou Jingyi, the quiet and gentle Dou family member.
Seeing that the girls were reluctant to leave their elders, he used a seemingly clumsy tea-pouring trick to lure the three girls from the Jiang Yao family away, and then frightened them into a corner.
This leaves Dou Jingyi alone. With just a little manipulation, such as the same tea-tasting incident, or by telling her that Jiang Chengyu needs help, she will step forward out of consideration for the relationship between the two families, thus successfully falling into the Crown Prince's trap.
"Oh dear, I knew Consort Ju wouldn't use such an unoriginal trick. Turns out she had a backup plan." Jiang Chengyu slapped her forehead. "What should we do, sisters? What should we do?"
"Of course we're going to rescue them. We absolutely can't let him succeed." Yao Siqing's eyes were filled with urgency.
The Jiang and Dou families were evenly matched. The Jiang family established itself through military achievements, while the Dou family relied on being sons of powerful officials. In terms of influence within the court, the Dou family was greater than the Jiang family.
Without the support of the Dou family, Fifth Brother has lost half an arm.
Jiang Sheng's heart was pounding with nervousness, her palms were sweating and her ankles felt weak. But this was an emergency, and she couldn't afford to be vulnerable.
For the sake of her fifth brother, she had to calm down and let her clever little brain, which had been through so much, start working like crazy.
"Let's hurry back to the banquet hall. If we can intercept them on the way, that would be best. If not, we must inform the elders as soon as possible." Yao Siqing handled the matter quite appropriately.
Jiang Chengyu was completely disoriented and ran outside.
At this moment, returning to the banquet hall to seek help from elders is indeed the most appropriate course of action, but it is not the fastest way to provide assistance.
What they wanted to salvage was not only the Dou family's support, but also Dou Jingyi's clean reputation.
Jiang Sheng shook her head, feeling as if something had flashed by. She gripped it tightly, then glanced at the size of the side room out of the corner of her eye, and in a flash of inspiration, she grasped the key.
"Wait, wait!" she called to the two girls who were running away. "Sister Yao, you've been to the capital before, do you know how many places Yan Hui Pavilion has for guests?"
Typically, a palace has two side halls: the left side is for men, served by eunuchs, while the right side is for women, attended by palace maids.
So, the only place Dou Jingyi could go to was the right side hall where they were.
Yao Siqing reacted quickly, her eyes bright, and said, "Little Jiang Sheng, are you saying that the First Prince might be poisoning Miss Dou not far away?"
Rather than returning to the banquet hall to seek help from elders, which might lead to gossip and leaks, it would be better to quickly search the surroundings and quietly rescue Dou Jingyi.
Jiang Sheng had just nodded when Jiang Chengyu grabbed her and pulled her along, making her run like the wind. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's find her quickly!"
Yao Siqing stared in disbelief, and it took her a while to pick up her skirt and catch up.
Whether it was arranged in advance or not, the side hall, which should have been staffed by palace maids, was empty and desolate, with no one in sight.
Jiang Chengyu kicked open all the nearby doors one by one, but couldn't find a single ghost.
"Go to the left side hall," Jiang Sheng decided immediately.
Consort Ju wielded terrifying power in the harem. She could clean up the maids in the right side hall, and she might even be able to disguise the left side hall as the right side hall and then deliberately lead people there through winding and circuitous routes.
The three girls took off again, this time hearing faint sounds.
Jiang Chengyu's eyes revealed admiration, while Yao Siqing's face was full of praise.
Jiang Sheng scratched the back of her head sheepishly, never expecting that she would be right by sheer luck.
Doesn't this also prove that Consort Ju's abilities were truly extraordinary?
The closer the group got, the louder the noise became. Upon closer listening, it was the sound of a door being pushed open, accompanied by the urgent voice of the First Prince, "Jingyi, Jingyi, don't be afraid, I'm here."
He's clearly the one putting on a show of superstition, yet he's pretending to be a good person.
Just as the door was about to be pushed open, a woman's terrified scream came from inside.
Jiang Chengyu was furious. He leaped forward twice and kicked the Crown Prince to the ground before he could turn around. Seeing that the Crown Prince was dazed and unable to open his eyes, Jiang Chengyu became even more emboldened and swung his arm to strike him.
In the blink of an eye, the eldest prince's once handsome face swelled up like a pig's head, and he completely lost his ability to see.
"Who...who attacked me..." he struggled to reach out.
Jiang Chengyu grabbed it with his other hand and twisted it backward. The bones cracked, and the eldest prince was about to scream when he fainted from the pain.
"Xiao Yu!" Jiang Sheng was startled and rushed over to stop him. "Spare him! He is, after all, a prince."
Jiang Chengyu clapped his hands dismissively and stood up. "It's not even broken yet, and this piece of trash can't even hold on."
Being beaten up like this by a girl, the eldest prince truly deserves the title of "useless".
Jiang Sheng was dumbfounded, and once again felt that she might not have entered the palace to protect Jiang Chengyu.
They should be here to protect the Dou family's daughter.
As calm returned outside, the nearly dilapidated door was finally opened, and a head cautiously poked out—it was Qi Yue.
"Sister Qi!" Jiang Sheng exclaimed in surprise. "How could it be you? Where is Sister Dou?"
"It's you guys." Qi Yue bit her lower lip, carefully looked around, and only after making sure no one was there did she pull Dou Jingyi out. "She's here, so we're all here."
Compared to the somewhat courageous Qi family girl, Dou Jingyi was more quiet and delicate. At this moment, she was so frightened that she was completely at a loss. It took her a long time to regain her composure. "It's so good that you are all alright."
Everything was pretty much as Jiang Sheng had guessed, but there were also some differences.
After the three women left, a palace maid did go to Dou Jingyi, but not to ask her for a simple favor. Instead, she took Jiang Chengyu's jade pendant and hoped that Dou Jingyi could help check if there was anything wrong with her clothes.
The Dou family owned a clothing workshop, which was quite famous in Fengjing City.
Both the Jiang and Dou families were wary of the eldest prince, so it was understandable that Jiang Chengyu was afraid that the clothes would be tampered with. The most crucial point was that the palace maid brought a jade pendant that only members of the Jiang family possessed.
Although she still had doubts, she was already seven or eight parts convinced. Just as Dou Jingyi was hesitating whether to ask her mother to come along, Qi Yue volunteered, "Madam Dou is also weak and helpless. I can at least fight two strong men. I'll go with you."
Later, they followed them to a side hall. Qi Yue had a good sense of direction and immediately became suspicious. After seeing the eldest prince's furtive figure, she decisively pushed Dou Jingyi into the house and locked the door.
"You all saw the rest." Qi Yue spread her hands. "If I had known that the Crown Prince was so weak, why would I have been so anxious to block the door? I would have just stepped out and knocked him out."
“We can’t.” Dou Jingyi pursed her lips and shook her head gently. “It’s not advisable for the Qi family to offend Consort Ju right now.”
That makes sense. The Qi family is no match for the Dou and Jiang families, and they simply can't afford to offend the Ju family.
Qi Yue stuck out her tongue and muttered under her breath, "If we really offend him, then my dad will be the one who suffers."
Dou Jingyi looked up and met her gaze; the two smiled at each other.
Surrounded by a peach-pink hue typical of girls, Jiang Chengyu even forgot to touch the jade pendant at her waist, blurting out, "Weren't you all like this at the entrance of the examination hall before... how come you are now..."
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